Creativity Without the Headaches - Mblem Graphic Design

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kate Macintosh, owner of Mblem Graphic Design, located in Halifax, NS, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My baby, my identity, my alter ego: Mblem Graphic Design has been providing web and graphic design since 1999. My goal has always been to do work that MATTERS to people who CARE. I've been busy these last many years working with various small & medium-sized businesses, NGOs, tech companies, community-building groups, and not-for-profit organizations. I love to help artists of all kinds, people with unique visions, and those who strive to better the community and the environment-protectors.

Tell us about yourself

I graduated from Art School in 1999 when Mac computers looked like blue spaceships, and the Internet was in diapers. In my world, PMS will always mean Pantone Matching System. My creative portfolio is diversified, meaning I am confident from pixels to packaging, with a range that flows from designing your corporate logo to your niece's wedding invitation to Photoshopping your ex-spouse out of a family photo. Basically, I'm a problem-solving geek! I look at every challenge as a puzzle that I'm dying to solve. NYT crosswords and movie intros are my biggest inspirations, as well as procrastination traps.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I am most proud of the fact that I still do regular promo projects for my very first and also the second client I ever had! That's over 20 years! The first, a high-end home builder in Vancouver, works with me each month to produce a promo mail-out. For my second-ever client, A large health & beauty distributor, I've been producing everything from web content to signage and print pieces. They have also referred me to many, many lovely start-up businesses.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

The hardest thing for a creative worker who's wearing all the hats is the admin. Taxes can be baffling, invoicing is awkward, and how to manage clients with love but also a firm hand is NOT covered in art school.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

It's very satisfying to develop something from the ground up to see your own ideas and sweat grow into something real and tangible. It's crucial, though, to stay organized. Figure out a system that works for your own unique brain. And speaking of brains, know when it's time to call in the complementary brain. The one who finds easy what it is that you're stuck on. Call it collaboration; two heads ARE often better than one.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://mblem.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mblemgraphicdesign
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mblem.graphicdesign/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HalifaxKTMac
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-macintosh-26a55321/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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